Kelly Gillespie, RN, JD, PhD

Professor and Director; Center for Health Law Studies
School of Law

Secondary Appointment
Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics

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Education

PhD in Health Care Ethics, Saint Louis University (2015)
Juris Doctorate (certificate in health care law), Saint Louis University (2004)
Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Saint Louis University School (1991)

Practice Areas

Kelly Gillespie is an expert on health law, ethics, and policy and researches and writes on issues related to public health policy, drug use and controlled substances prescribing, pandemic ethics, and health inequities and discrimination.

Publications and Media Placements

Her work has been published in law and interdisciplinary journals including, among others, the Cato Supreme Court Review, Arizona State Law Journal, AMA Journal of Ethics, American Journal of Bioethics, Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Journal of Addiction Medicine, the Kansas Law Review the and others. She is the co-editor and author of several chapters in “Prescription Drug Diversion and Pain: History, Policy, and Treatment”, published by Oxford University Press. Throughout her career, she has been interviewed by many media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, Blomberg, STAT News, LAW360, Vice.com, and NPR.

Professional Organizations and Associations

National Institutes of Health, National Institute for Drug Abuse, Appointed Member (2023-present), Gillespie serves on the NIH Partnership Consultation Board, Multilevel Interventions to Reduce Harm and Improve Quality of Life for Patients on Long Term Opioid Therapy. She previously chaired the American Bar Association’s Opioid Crisis Task Force and has co-authored two amici briefs before the United States Supreme Court in Ruan v U.S. regarding criminal distribution under The Controlled Substances Act as applied to prescribers.